On May 21-26, 2018 the 71^st World Health Assembly (WHA) is taking place in Geneva, being attended by the delegations from 194 WHO Member States, represented mainly at the ministerial level, as well as from specialized agencies, programs and funds of the UN system and non-governmental organizations. The topic of this year's Assembly is "Health for All: Сommit to Universal Health Coverage".

At its opening T.Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, stressed, among other things,  on the importance of the WHO's further reforming as well as of the adoption of the 13th WHO General Programme of Work for 2019-2023 to accelerate the implementation of the relevant Sustainable Development Goals.

On May 22 Dr. U.Suprun, the Head of the Delegation of Ukraine at the 71^st WHA, Acting Minister of Health of Ukraine, delivered the statement during the general debates and, in particular, drew attention to the consequences of the ongoing Russian aggression, which gravely affects the public health system in Ukraine. She stressed upon the refusal of the Russian occupying authorities to provide access to medical services for the citizens of Ukraine; highlighted the dire state of health of the Ukrainian political prisoners, illegally detained by the Russian Federation, who, inter alia, were being tortured. In this regard, WHO and its Member States were called upon to contribute, in coordination with the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, to the assessing the health of the Ukrainian political hostages of the Kremlin regime and to their further releasing. At the same time, U.Suprun noted the positive changes, despite the Russian aggression, in the realization of the health reform in Ukraine, including the implementation of new financial solutions as well as the improvement of the procedures of government procurement of medicines through the international organizations.